A surgeon accused of botching breast implant opera

A surgeon accused of botching breast implant operations on five women told how one patient began ‘gunning’ for him after she suffered complications.

Steven Walker, 44, said he fully informed her about the surgery on March 19, 1998 and refuted the account she gave from the witness box.

Mrs DG, 53, claimed Walker inserted a silicon gel implant without her knowledge.

She had signed the consent form for a expandable saline pack.

Walker told the GMC he had seen her on the morning of the operation at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and explained the change of plan.

He added: ‘The expandable implants were no longer available and I had every intention of ringing her before she came into hospital.

The only excuse is that I had a very busy clinic.

‘What I did do was to come in to see her early to explain what the problem was.

I said I would put in a fixed prosthesis and hope for a satisfactory result.

‘She was a bit taken aback but I think she understood it.

What I did not do was to amend the consent form.

‘The first time I detected any discontent from her was subsequently when there were signs of infection.

‘She was very disappointed.

I feel her and her husband had been gunning for me a little bit.

‘

Mrs DG later wrote a letter of complaint to the hospital threatening legal action.

She was then referred to a plastic surgeon in Manchester.

Walker admitted suggesting the insertion of two implants in the same breast after realising he had made a mistake with the measurements.

He added: ‘There were a number of options – to simply close the wound and bring the patient back on another occasion but that seemed a great shame.

‘Another option was to put in two prostheses.

The idea of that would have been to have kept the cavity open until we put another prosthesis in.

I understand this is a technique which has been described [in the literature].

‘

Walker had been told not to carry out any more breast implant operations in 1997 but asked for permission to work on Mrs DG because she had been on the waiting list for 18 months.

He said: ‘I felt very bad about this.

We had promised her one thing and had not delivered it.

She deserved better than this.

‘

Walker is accused of bungling operations on twelve women in Blackpool between June 1995 and December 1998.

Five patients died following surgery.

He has held a number of positions across the country including a spell at the Leighton Hospital in Crewe.

Earlier Walker defended his decision to attempt breast reconstruction on Mrs ML, a Glaswegian 62-year-old, in May 1996.

He said: ‘She was so upset about the loss of her breast and she felt this simple operation was likely to help.

‘I think by this stage I had more experience in this technique.

She was keen for something to be done and she did not wish to travel away from the area.

‘I though the options were either doing nothing or something simple like the insertion of an expandable prosthesis.

‘

The operation went ahead but by September 1996 the implant had deflated because of a ‘technical failure,’ the committee heard.

Walker decided to insert another implant on September 7 but the wound became infected and it had to be removed in December 1996.

The surgeon said: ‘She was always a difficult lady to judge and I just wondered by this stage had I been able to have a fuller picture of her whether I that would have influenced what I did.

‘I think if the first prosthesis had not deflated she could have had a satisfactory outcome.

It appeared to be going in the right direction.

‘

In another case Walker claimed a former model had been ‘delighted’ with the results of his allegedly botched breast implant.

He said Mrs YA, then aged 48, had been very worried about her appearance following the removal of a cancerous lesion in December 1995.

The 100ml silicon implant which was inserted in January 1996 had to be removed the next July because it had moved sideways.

Walker added: ‘She was a very attractive lady and her bust had been a great asset to her.

She was either getting married or had just got married and was going to America for the celebration.

‘This had all come at a very bad time for her.

She wanted to have a normal breast which would fill the various dresses she had bought.

‘Yes, there is always a risk of any material you put in moving but this prosthesis matched pretty well.

It wasn’t just falling around, it was well located.

‘Putting in a small prosthesis is not done very commonly in these cases but there were special circumstances for this.

‘She was delighted with the short-term results of this and it certainly fulfilled what she wanted for that time.

‘

He denied the operation was inappropriate and refuted claims he made inaccurate or misleading statements to her GP about the causes of the deviation of the implant.

Walker also told the GMC that patient Mrs JN had seemed satisfied with the results of her breast reconstruction operation in July 1995.

The 47-year-old woman told the committee she became agoraphobic and ‘felt like a freak’ after the surgery.

Walker said: ‘She was not as ecstatic as Mrs BS was but at no stage did she say any of those things to me.

‘

Walker faces charges covering 12 operations, two for liver surgery, five for bowel surgery and five breast reconstructions.

Walker, who is registered at an address in Leeds and formerly lived at Maritime Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, denies serious professional misconduct.

The hearing continues.

ends